The Bristol Eastern and Southington softball teams were greeted by gray skies and chilly temperatures when they met for their early-season showdown on Tuesday afternoon at the Eastern diamond on King Street.
The damp air foretold of future rain, and the wet weather wound up being a big factor in the game’s outcome, a 3-2 Eastern win over Southington.
The Lady Knights led the Lancers 5-3 in the bottom of the sixth inning after scoring three runs in the top of the frame. You read that right, Southington led Eastern 5-3 in the sixth inning.
The skies opened up, and the umpires called the game with the Lancers at bat and two runners on base. Southington had the lead, but Eastern wound up with the win. Umpires consulted a rule book, which stated the game must go back to the previous completed inning. That was the fifth inning, and the Lancers led 3-2 after five innings, which meant they won the game. Eastern improved to 3-0 while Southington dropped to 2-1.
Here’s what I found in the National Federation of High Schools Softball Rules Book online:
“If a game ends because of weather conditions, or darkness interferes with play so that the game is called (ended) by the umpire, it is a regulation game provided:
a. five full innings have been played; or if the home team has scored an equal or greater number of runs in four or four and a fraction turns at bat than the visiting team has scored in five turns.
b. play has gone beyond five full innings and is called when the teams have not had an equal number of completed turns at bat. The score shall be the same as it was at the end of the last completed inning; unless the home team, in its half of the incomplete inning, scores a run (or runs) which equals or exceeds the opponent’s score, in which case, the final score shall be as recorded when the game is called.”
So, here’s what happened in those five completed innings:
1st
- Southington scored twice in the top of the frame. Chrissy Marotto led off the game with a triple and tried for an inside the park homerun, but Eastern was able to throw her out at the plate. The Knights wound up scoring twice anyway and led 2-0.
- Eastern responded with two runs in its half of the first to tie the game, 2-2. Paige McLaughlin walked with one out, then Zoe Lowe single. Pitcher Erin Girard blasted a two-run double to score McLaughlin and Lowe.
2nd
- Girard picked up a strikeout with a runner on third base to end the top of the inning.
- The Lancers were retired 1-2-3.
3rd
- Girard left a runner on second base with a ground out to shortstop Taylor Keegan.
- Eastern was set down 1-2-3.
4th
- Girard allowed a two-out single but escaped unharmed.
- Girard led off with a walk. Riley Giblin sacrificed courtesy runner Sophia Bouchard to second base, then Alison Tellier singled to right field. Bouchard tried to score, but was thrown out at home by Southington right fielder Katelyn Lipski. With two outs, Alyssa Hackling doubled to score Tellier and give Eastern a 3-2 lead.
5th
- The Knights began with back-to-back singles, and both runners moved up on the throw. Girard got a comebacker for the first out, then a grounder to first baseman Lauren Aparo for the second out. Girard escaped the jam with a strikeout.
- The Lancers were retired 1-2-3.
Gallery
Here are my photos from early on in today’s game.
